Welcome to my home:
a place to rest,
a place to revive,
a place to pray.

When my illustrator (and daughter-in-law) Acacia and I were having one of our meetings concerning the artwork that would go on each page of Christmas Morning, she suggested that we should put in some Easter eggs in the book. Not quite following her lingo, I took this literally and was wondering to myself why in the world would we put Easter eggs in a Christmas book?!

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Acacia then explained it to me...

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Oh!! Easter eggs--little hidden items on the illustrated pages! I loved the idea. So...there are small treasures with sentimental value sprinkled throughout Christmas Morning. I will list them here so you can join in the fun with word-explanations now, and then hopefully later with the completed illustrated book in hand:

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‍The redbird in the window. Redbirds have a significant meaning to me. Long ago (meaning, decades ago!), on a snowy afternoon in January, God used this small brilliant red winged-creature to speak of his great love to me personally. At that time in my life, my faith-walk was riddled with doubt and insecurity. One afternoon, I cried out to God, wondering if he even knew where I was. His sweet way of answering me was to send a redbird directly in front of my window. When it landed on a bush covered with snow, I felt seen and heard. God was not far away! He cared! Not only did he know where I was, but he also knew what would grab my heart. The redbirds (cardinals) continue to fly my direction to this day. God is faithful and good.

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The little white doggy. This wonderfully illustrated dog in Christmas Morning is a tribute to our late cairn terrier. She belonged to my youngest daughter Emmy, but she was also my constant companion once Emmy went to college. Juliet, aka Baby "J", will always hold a special place in our hearts. It was a sad day for all the Baxter clan when we had to put her to sleep about a year ago. She "lives on" in such a fun and adventurous way throughout the pages of this Christmas story.

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The pictures on the wall and over the fireplace. There are two framed pictures on one of the pages in the book. One of these pictures is meant to represent my four young grandchildren: Hally, Ada, Simon, and Isaiah. The second picture is of a beautiful oak tree sitting in a grassy field. This illustration is bittersweet because it represents the tree that was planted at my other little grandson's burial site. Brave Rutherford Baxter was delivered (by Acacia, the illustrator) at 36 weeks without a heartbeat last October. I'm thankful to have this picture of a strong vibrant tree in the book, drawn by his mother, in her son's, my grandson's, honor. The third framed picture in the book sits over the fireplace and it is also in Brave's honor. It is an illustration of a deer leaping over a fence which is meant to represent the beautiful leap that Brave has made from earth to heaven--a leap that all who believe in Jesus will be given as an eternal gift: from death to Life! Thank you Jesus!

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Easter eggs in a Christmas book! What a novel idea. Each of these little treasures mentioned above have contributed both depth and sentiment in the pages of Christmas Morning. I hope you will enjoy them as well when the book comes out in the early fall.

Stay tuned for the opening of the Christmas gifts--one by one...in my next post.

Words cannot fully express the pain of losing a child, no matter the age. I've had a taste of this kind of heartache when I briefly held my grandson who was born without a heartbeat at 36 weeks. I will always miss him.

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My prayer is that the truth in this "song of lament" will be of some comfort to anyone who is struggling with the real, raw, and immense emotions that accompany grief.

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Right now, I am thinking of the parents of the little girls from Camp Mystic in Texas.

Hear the Lord whisper, "I'm holding you both."

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I'm Holding You Both

O my

O, my God

O, my God, no!

A heart of sorrow, tears of pain-

This, my God, is more than a sting.

Where's the victory?

Where's the hope?

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I'm holding onto life,

I'm holding onto life,

I'm holding onto Life,

I'm holding onto Christ...

He gently whispers, "I'm holding you both."

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A heart of sadness, tears remain,

An earthly loss for a heavenly gain??

And this is the story that You wrote?!

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I'm holding onto life,

I'm holding onto life,

I'm holding onto Life,

I'm holding onto Christ...

He sweetly whispers, "I'm holding you both."

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A heart of aching, tears make stains,

Tears of anguish well up again-

I'm trusting, trusting - but help me cope!

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I'm holding onto life,

I'm holding onto life,

I'm holding onto Life,

I'm holding onto Christ...

He softly whispers, "I'm holding you both."

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A heart of longing, tears untamed,

Release, hold on, release again-

God, assure me she's dancing to the song you wrote:

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"I'm holding onto Life,

I'm holding onto Life,

I'm holding onto Life,

I'm holding onto Christ!"

As you sing to me, "I'm holding you both."

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O my

O, my God

O my God, help me say... "Yes."

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Have you ever wondered what God's favorite colors are? Greens and Blues? Reds and yellows? Maybe its all the colors of the rainbow? Or maybe its every single color, with every shade and hue. After all, he created each one with his perfect imagination!

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From the beginning of Christmas Morning, I was asking God himself to pick his choice colors for the pages of this children's book. I personally see in black-and-white words, so my creativity in the world of art is close to nothing. I knew this story needed God's divine touch in order for it to come to life.

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As I was praying this specific request, I also "happened to be" in the book of Exodus in my daily Bible reading plan. And it is in these pages that I found three (if not four) of his "favorite" colors! Over and over again, God chose these colors:

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You shall make the tabernacle with the tent curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns... Exodus 26:1

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And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen...Exodus 26:31

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You shall make a screen for the entrance of the tent, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen... Exodus 26:36

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Contextually, God is instructing Moses how to decorate the tent of meeting--a place where his presence would reside among his chosen people while they wandered in the wilderness for forty years. Figuratively, my heart's desire is for God's beautiful truth to reside on every page of Christmas Morning.

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‍So there you have it! Blue and purple and scarlet became my color scheme, hand picked by the Divine Decorator himself! And to add to it, the fine twined linen is the white line that is intentionally drawn throughout most all the pages of Christmas Morning. (I wrote about the meaning of this white line in my previous post: ^{https://www.respitefortheweary.com/post/the-making-of-christmas-morning-backstory-and-the-white-line.} .

Here is one more fun and awesome fact-- another word was repeated in these same chapters of Exodus:

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They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Exodus 25:10

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You shall make a table of acacia wood. Exodus 25:23

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You shall make upright frames for the tabernacle of acacia wood. Exodus 26:15

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Now, can I remind you that my illustrator's name is Acacia? I don't believe in coincidences. I do believe in God's intimate and intentional instruction toward his dependent and faith-filled children. Acacia, who also happens to be my daughter-in-law, is the person who God has appointed to bring Christmas Morning to life through his sweet and holy touch. I am amazed at how he is working through her!

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God is in this book. His glory is what I want to come out of every page, every word, and every stroke of color.

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I could go on and on, but instead, I will stop here and say, "Stay tuned."

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There is more to come in the making of Christmas Morning...

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